CAMERON Guthrie’s philosophy is as simple as it is straight forward: if you want to be your best, you’ve got to do your best.
And, that extends as much off the field as it does on it.
Calder coach Marty Allison credits Guthrie, now in his third season with the Cannons, as being “a player who prepares himself as good as anyone that I have experienced.”
Allison said Guthrie embraced all the nutritional, hydration, recovery, rehab processes as well as coaching advice.
“Cameron leaves no stone unturned in preparation for a game and that would have been through off season. He has incredible discipline in everything he does towards football,” Allison said.
“He is preparing himself to play the best football he possibly can and he sees all that as an integral part of his preparation.”
Guthrie said he took the view that if you wanted to play well on the field, you had to ensure you did everything right off it.
“If you don’t play a good game for whatever reason you can most of the time put it down to something you have or haven’t done off the field,” Guthrie said.
“I really try to get the best out of myself by doing the extra things like going to the gym or doing an extra rehab session at the pool.
“I really want to have a good year for the Cannons and hopefully by doing those extra things it sets me up for a pretty consistent year.”
Guthrie, who first played for the Cannons in 2007 and was a member of last year’s premiership team, has benefited from such a committed, structured and disciplined approach.
He proved pivotal in the Cannon’s 14-point win against Sandringham Dragons in Round 4 to earn the maximum five TAC Cup votes.
“He has very sure hands and is a terrific decision maker. He had great numbers – 25 disposals, 10 hand balls received and seven tackles – to be our best against Sandy,” Allison said.
“Cameron can probably play every position except ruck or rover, but he is a quality on baller. He can stretch up to play on one of the opposition big guys and he’s quite capable of playing on one of those slippery smaller guys.
“When I need some stability in the backline if the opposition is getting away from us, I can throw him back there. He’s the type of player that can play those roles.
“He backs himself and takes on opposition teams when he can and when he feels himself up against a brick wall he makes very good decisions. He knows when to dispose of the football and when to hang on to it.”
Cameron Guthrie also knows the sacrifices needed to make those decisions.
Last Modified on 06/05/2010 09:32